Grass analysing, bush encroachment and weeds, as well as poisons plants all, need to be managed.
The carrying capacity of the 32427 acres needs to be done on a yearly basis to ensure that the correct number of species and species diversity is held.
We like all students to be involved in building our database on various species & submitting data to Virtual Museum @ ADU (Animal Demography Unit, http://vmus.adu.org.za)
The production of tannins as a defence mechanism by plants has been researched and proven. It is only during the past 20 – 30 years that the true economic impact on game has become evident as more and more game farms are fenced off.
In 2008, there has been a research on a field test which can predict pregnancy in wildlife, by using faeces. Now we take blood (during immobilization of the animal) and send these samples to South-Africa. This is both time-consuming and costly. We would like to try these field tests, and compare it to the blood results to find out whether this would be a better method for us to determine pregnancy in our wildlife. During feeding we regularly see them defecating, so collecting faeces should not be a problem.
We would like to know how high the worm burden of our wildlife is. This can be done by examining worm eggs in the faces under a microscope.
Besides the project which the student will do, he or she will also be involved in every aspect of the farm; husbandry (game and horses), maintenance, game management, administration, possibly assist in capture immobilization, field management etc.
Some of the tasks will be:
Curious where you will be accommodated?